Botany in the Modern World..

                                               Botany in the Modern World

                                                        RATHIN DAS

                                                                        S2 BSc boany

                                                                                 

All life on earth, including us, depends on plants for their continued existence. Botanists can study plants at various levels, many of which are reflected in the courses offered by the School of Botany. We have considerable expertise in all aspects of plant molecular biology and biotechnology, disciplines that are increasingly important as the world strives to feed its population and to avoid the ravages of plant diseases. The diversity and uniqueness of Australian flora supplies the excitement of our systematics and diversity classes, and we offer the chance to go out into the field with experts who have studied these plants in a variety of familiar ecosystems such as our eucalypt forests and the subalpine high plains. We also show students the wonderful world of protists, especially those tiny but critically important phytoplankton and the larger seaweeds that ultimately feed all of the animals in the oceans. We study the way plants adapt to environments ranging from tropical rainforests to deserts, and we study how best we can overcome the problems of environmental degradation such as those derived from toxic metals and salinity. We have specialists in physiology, conservation and population modelling, fossils and plant diseases.
Majoring in Plant Sciences...
Students who take courses in plant sciences are introduced into many different modern technologies, as diverse as gene sequencing, cladistic analysis, microscopy and polysaccharide biochemistry - skills that are sought after by employers. Students are introduced to the scientific method: how experiments are devised, carried out and interpreted, how data are organised and presented and how a variety of different approaches are sometimes necessary to tackle big problems.
When you first arrive, the range of courses, majors etc. will be confusing and you probably are very uncertain about what you should do. You really don't need to worry; there is plenty of advice on offer, either informally in departments, or more formally at Course Advising Sessions that are well publicised throughout the year.
As a first-year student, you will start by taking an appropriate first-year package, including the general introductory courses. As you approach the end of your first year, you can start thinking more about Majors in Plant Sciences.There is an important Course Advising Week in second semester, during which your queries about how to proceed further will be answered. We also have brochures which will familiarise you with our offerings.
You will start to specialise in second year when choice of subjects becomes more important. However, the structures of the major are flexible and many students change their focus - and their course specialisations - as their interests develop. By third year, you will have a major and area of specialisation firmly in mind, and you might also be thinking of taking Honours.
To Major in Plant Sciences (i.e. Botany), you will need to fulfil the standard Science requirement of at least 50 points of a prescribed major course at the 300 level. Majors specifically in Plant Sciences.
You will be advised in the Department what courses you will need for these majors and a brochure with more information is available at the Botany Office.